


The Future Has A Funny Way Of Not Being What You Expect

by AngelWithAStory



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Fem!Steve, Friendship/Love, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Male-Female Friendship, Recovery, Slice of Life, only steve is genderbent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-11 15:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2074245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelWithAStory/pseuds/AngelWithAStory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The water approaches. Stevie looks at the photo of Peggy in front of her. She closes her eyes and thinks of another person who makes her heart ache.<br/>'Bucky' Is her last coherent thought before the world snaps to black. </p>
<p>...<br/>Not even a fortnight after she woke up, Stevie's back at war, except she doesn't know if she can do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this as a wip on my phone for ages but I thought I should at least put a bit up while I figure out the rest of the story :3

_The water approaches. Stevie looks at the photo of Peggy in front of her. She closes her eyes and thinks of another person who makes her heart ache._ _  
_ _'_ Bucky _' Is her last coherent thought before the world snaps to black._

...

...

...

There's a sting in her chest. 

Before she even opened her eyes and knows what happened, there was a pain in her heart. 

As soon as she saw the lights of New York, the sting grew until it felt like she was having an asthma attack (even though that was virtually impossible with the serum). 

It stung because she felt cheated. Her life shouldn't be in this time. She should have grown old with the Howling Commandos and with Peggy and Howard and...

The memory hits her hard in the chest. It feels like Bucky only fell a few days ago, but Stevie knows that really, it's been 70 years. 

That doesn't help. 

Not even a fortnight after she woke up, Stevie's back at war, except she doesn't know if she can do it. 

While she was under, the world had used her image for any and all purposes. People had made up their mind about her. Especially when they found out that Captain America _was_ in fact a 'her'.

The army assumed she was dead and a couple decades later, when the stories of the war time Captain America and the Howling Commandos were being collected, told the press that Captain America had entered the Army and Super Soldier programme as a man, and very select few knew he was a woman. They also admitted that they didn't regret their decision, as 'Steve' proved their worth to the US military ten times over. (An argument that stayed around for decades and eventually allowed women to enter the armed forces).  

Now she was awake, SHIELD seemed to think the outfit (and subsequently, her image) should be adapted. Made more 'modern', but still hold the feel of 'Captain America'.   
Stevie knew she should be annoyed, but the constant sting in her chest reminded her that worse things could happen. (Even if Stevie hated the way some people looked at her now). At least it was practical and the only drastic change was now it would be fitted properly. 

A man named Phil Coulson picked her up in a small jet on her way to the Helicarrier. When she sat down and they were in the air, he handed Stevie a computer tablet that had the information on all the other 'specialists' SHIELD were bringing in. 

In a couple minutes, Stevie's had a pretty good handle on how to navigate and was flicking through the various files. 

She deliberately ignored the files titled 'Stark, A' and focused on Banner. 

Even seeing that name made the sting worsen and she wanted to keep as clear a head as possible. 

Phil kept talking to her and she listened while flicking through the various footage of the 'Hulk'. He started to come off creepy with the ' _I watched you while you were unconscious_ ' thing, but Stevie didn't have the heart to shut him down when he sounded so in awe of her. (That's another thing Stevie hated about the modern day; people idolised her now even more then they did in the 40's). 

 

Steve wasn't prepared to meet her new 'teammates', or for the war against aliens, but by the time they were sat around eating shwarma, she'd found she genuinely liked them.   
Tony annoyed the shit out of her. A small part of her thought that was the Howard in him and another knew that it was just an act. 

Whenever she was around him, the pain in her heart seemed to flare up. She thought it was guilt at first: guilt that she was good friends with his father and now he's dead, guilt that Howard searched for her but couldn't find her after the plane went down, guilt that she didn't see him grow up like Peggy did. 

Tony looked at her with a small gleam in his eyes that made Stevie feel like Howard brought Tony up with stories of the Howling Commandos and her during the war and Tony didn't really believe them but now he had proof. 

Maybe that's another reason why she felt the ache; because she knew almost nothing about Tony and he must have know all about who she _was_. 

Stevie liked Banner. She enjoyed the calm he always seemed to have and the aura of being in control of himself. Stevie knew about the 'other guy' but all she could feel when she saw the Hulk in the flesh was a small twinge of indirect guilt because he'd been trying to recreate the serum that ran in her veins. 

But Stevie knew she wasn't to blame and she felt almost grateful when she heard Stark talking to him and talking about the Hulk in a positive way. (She can't help but think of Peggy at that, how she always managed to comfort him). 

Natasha and Clint were the ones Stevie's most wary of. She knew they were trained to kill, and she saw seen them in action, so she had no doubts about their skills. 

Stevie liked Natasha's humour and her ability to manipulate a situation into her favour. (And she would be lying if there wasn't a point when she felt strangely attracted to her). It was also nice to not be the only female on the team, even though Stevie knew they wouldn't be having 'girly' conversations and sharing lipsticks (not that Stevie ever wore it, really). 

Stevie didn't really know Clint, but if Natasha trusted him, then that was good enough for her. 

Stevie didn't really have a bad word to say against Thor. He fought by her side and watched her back while she watched his. 

That was another thing Stevie liked about the Avengers: none of them seemed to treat her with prejudice. 

She proved her place and all of them respected her. Somehow, she even found herself giving out the orders. 

If she wasn't so focused on saving the world, Stevie would have noticed how her chest ached and the words 'Howling Commandos' would have come to mind. 

 

Once New York was safe and the Tesseract and Loki were safely back with Thor, Stevie found she couldn't stay in New York. 

There were too many ghosts walking the streets and too many memories that caused too much pain.

So she moved to DC and rented an apartment. SHEILD offered her a job and she took it. 

She kept in touch with some of the other Avengers (Natasha mostly, as she went on most of the missions Stevie did) and quickly she realised that it was nice to have friends again after feeling like her life had ended with the war. 


	2. Adjusting

Some days, Stevie would wake up, unable to breathe or leave her bed because all the grief and all the pain just caught up with her. 

She curled around a pillow on her bed and mourned the life that she should have had. Mourned everyone that she should have grown old with. 

Once she talked to Banner about this, and he told her that sometimes regular exercise helped release built up emotions. Stevie figured if anyone would know, Banner would. 

So the next time she woke up and couldn't breathe for the searing hole engulfing her chest, she got up and ran. 

And it helped. 

Focusing on the rhythmic thud of her feet on the ground and the systematic repetitiveness of her breath helped ease the ache. It also helped that now Stevie could _actually_ run for long periods of time without being utterly floored by the exertion. 

By the time Stevie steadily jogged back to her apartment, she hadn't even broken a sweat. 

She took a shower anyway, resting her forehead on the cold tiles. 

Her phone showed a new text message from Natasha. They had a mission. 

Quickly, Steve changed and meet Natasha on the curb. 

 

The morning run turned into a routine for Stevie. The reliability and release helped her adjust.

Tony and Clint seemed to think that she was completely clueless when it came to new technology, so she bought herself an iPod, just to prove them wrong. Stevie managed to find songs that she had on vinyl when she shared an apartment with Bucky and downloaded them onto her iPod, along with some more recent songs she liked. 

The nostalgia could be comforting on her morning run, but most of the time she only listened to the old records by herself in her apartment. (And if sometimes, she put the records on and let herself be overwhelmed for a while, well that wasn't anyone else's business but hers.) 

Soon she found that it wasn't just music she was seriously behind on. Stevie soon found that there were a lot of references in day-to-day life that she didn't _quite_ get. 

So Stevie began to research. 

She started to read some recommendations from various SHEILD agents and the Avengers gave her a (quite extensive) shortlist of the best films since the war. 

Soon Stevie started losing track, so she got a small notebook and wrote them all down. Every film, book, album, TV show and just things she should know in general, that someone recommended went down in the notebook and Stevie spent a large chunk of her free time slowly making her way through it. 

She also spent a lot of time learning about what happened to her friends. She read up on the history of SHEILD and was touched when she learned that Peggy and Howard were two of the founders. 

She was happy and terrified when she found out Peggy was still alive. Stevie almost backed out of going to see her, but she went because it's Peggy and she was still her best girl. 

And it broke her heart to see Peggy like that. She promised to keep visiting and Captain America always kept her promises. 

 

The next two years passed quickly. She grew her hair out past her shoulders and slowly adjusted to modern day life. 

Running became something of an anchor. She went early in the morning before the bulk of the population was awake. 

Stevie got tired of running blindly so she created several routes and began to alternate between them. 

Sometimes if the ache was worse, she'd do several laps, just to tire herself out more. 

And it was one of those days when the searing in her chest felt like it opened a hole in her chest that she decided to try a different route. She didn't bother with her iPod, instead, just leaving the apartment in jogging bottoms and a t-shirt. 

About half-way through her run, she saw someone ahead of her, jogging steadily. 

"On your left." She said, quickly passing them. 

She finished a lap and immediately started another. She saw the jogger again and a smiled very slightly. 

"On your left." She said again. The jogger's response was lost as she kept running. 

Stevie easily completed the second lap and was three-quarters through her third when she saw the jogger for the third time. They saw her approaching and shook their head slightly. 

"Don't say it, don't say it!" 

"On your left." Stevie said, smiling at the noises of annoyance made by the jogger. 

She found them a little while later slumped against a tree, desperately catching their breath. 

The jogger's name was Sam Wilson and instantly Stevie warmed up to him. He knew what it was like to be a soldier and sympathised with her. It was refreshing to talk to someone who'd been through what she had (though she doubted that Sam had fought the Red Skull). 

He joked with her and gave her another album to add to her list. 

She almost didn't want to get that text message from Natasha. 

Between Natasha's awful fossil joke and having a genuine conversation with Sam, Stevie could almost forget about the dull ache. 

 

The Winter Soldier. 

The ghost story of the intelligence community. 

Something about the Soldier seemed off to Stevie. 

The way they fought, how they moved, seemed familiar but _alien_ at the same time. And it wasn't until Stevie knocked off their mask that she understood. 

Her breath stopped in her chest.

"Bucky?" She said, staring at the face she knew practically all her life. The face she'd know anywhere. The face she thought she'd never see again. 

"Who the hell is Bucky?" 

If you had pressed an ear to Stevie's chest at that moment, you would have heard her heart burn as the searing pain in her chest flared up. 

The Winter Soldier disappeared and Stevie was left stunned. She didn't even try to fight back as she was cuffed. 

Bucky didn't remember her. 

Bucky didn't remember himself. 

And Stevie didn't know which was worse. 


	3. Staring Over... Again

She did it. She gave Maria the order. Sam and Nat were safe. The carrier was going down and Stevie didn't really care any more. 

Bucky had shot her. 

He didn't remember her. 

Nothing else mattered. 

Only Bucky mattered. 

"You know me..." Stevie said gently. 

"No I don't!" Bucky shouted, lunging at Stevie. 

"I'm not going to fight you." She said, dropping her shield. Bucky's eyes briefly followed it, so many dampened emotions in his eyes. "You're name is James Buchanan Barnes." Stevie said. 

"SHUT UP!" Bucky shouted, showing the most amount of emotion the Winter Soldier had ever. He attacked Stevie, managing to floor her, half off a broken floor panel. 

"You're my friend." Stevie said quietly. So many more words weren't said. 

"You're my  _ mission _ ." Bucky spat, punching Stevie violently across the face. Bucky had his legs either side of Stevie's hips, reminding her of another time and another situation which would have brought a blush to Stevie's face if she wasn't suffering from blood loss. 

"Then finish it... 'Cause I'm with you, 'til the end of the line." Stevie said, talking through the blood and the bruises. Horror and confusion and minute acknowledgement flashed across Bucky's face. 

Stevie didn't clearly remember what happened next. She did remember a metal arm reaching for her and then the world faded to black.    
  
Stevie slowly woke to music she doesn't recognise. It took a few moments to realise she was in a hospital and Sam was in a chair beside her. 

"On your left." She mumbled, sinking back into the hospital bed. Sam smiled. 

 

She wanted to go after Bucky. She wanted to track him down and help him remember who he was. 

Stevie knew it was completely selfish but now she knew Bucky was alive, she wanted to find him again, to have him in her life again. 

Sam told her that they'd tried finding Bucky but he didn't want to be found. 

The only sighting of the Winter Soldier had been at the exhibition on Captain America but by the time agents managed to get there, he was gone. No one remembered seeing him. 

The Winter Soldier had become a ghost once more. 

It was disheartening but Stevie knew it was true. 

When she was discharged from the hospital, all of SHIELD's files were public knowledge, Natasha's identities were shattered and SHIELD lay in ruins along with the world's trust in them. 

Stevie knows she couldn't stay in that DC apartment any more, not since it still had Nick's blood on the floor. 

Tony called her when she was discharged from hospital. Stevie wondered when she first saw the number if he'd read the files and wanted to share. 

It was genuinely surprising when he said that there was a room if she wanted it at Avenger's Tower.

Stevie was almost too stunned to speak for a moment. Tony admitted that he offered a room to each Avenger since SHIELD was dismantled. 

He seemed... More sincere than he did before. 

Stevie accepted. 

 

Tony and Rhodey arrived at her house first thing the next morning. 

They had Stevie's apartment packed up in under two hours. 

 


	4. Settling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the working title of this fic is 'adventures of fem!steve' :D

 

Stevie rode her motorcycle behind the car Tony had brought down with him and they made the trip back to New York. 

The busy streets seemed to swallow her and a sense of _home_ settled somewhere within her. Stevie followed the car down various roads, always keeping it in sight. 

It didn't take too long to get to Avenger's Tower. Tony turned down the street behind it and opened the garage, parking his car smoothly. Stevie followed him, tucking her motorcycle in the corner. 

“Hey Cap, your space's over there.” Tony called, gesturing to a space with 'Capsicle' written over it. Rhodey shook his head, obviously used to Tony's jokes, and Stevie just rolled her eyes. Really, she should have expected something like this. 

She moved her motorcycle and helped the two with unloading her boxes, managing to hold five of them (including the box of kitchen utensils and one of the boxes of books) before Rhodey insisted on taking the rest with Tony. Stevie went up the lift on her won to the floor with the label ' _S.Rogers_ ' and swiped the key card Tony had given her. There was a small beep and the lift doors closed, getting to the floor in a matter of seconds. Tony and Rhodey had gone up before her with some boxes and by the time Stevie made it up to the floor, they had put the boxes on a counter that ran along one wall and on the floor beside it. 

There were cupboards above the counter and standard kitchen appliances (Stevie raised her eyebrow when she saw the state of the art oven and dishwasher along with a fridge that had a small TV screen and ice dispenser. Rhodey just shrugged when he saw her expression).

It only took two more trips between the three of them to get all the boxes up to the floor. Once all the boxes where settled on Stevie's floor, Tony briefly explained the basics; thermostat, lift, why the key card was necessary (the top second of the building was exclusively for Avengers and the key card was so it stayed restricted, which Stevie appreciated). He introduced Stevie to JARVIS when the AI told him he had a call.

Tony left and it was just Stevie and Rhodey.

“Captain, do you want any help with unpacking?” He asked politely.

“I can handle a few boxes, but thank you Mr Rhodes.” Stevie said, opening a box and pulling it towards the book shelf. 

“Mr Rhodes,” Rhodey repeated, pulling a face. “No offense Captain, but please call me Rhodey.” He said, a sly smile on his face. 

“Only if you stop calling me Captain. Stevie is more than fine.” Stevie countered. 

“Deal.” Rhodey said, holding his hand out for Stevie to shake. “Just so you know, there's a communal kitchen downstairs with the only coffee machine in the Avengers section of the tower.”

“Is that to make sure we leave the floors at least some times?” Stevie asked.

“And to get Tony out of his lab every few hours. Otherwise, he'll disappear for days at a time.” Rhodey said. 

“That's good to know.” Stevie said.

“I should leave you to unpack.” Rhodey said, absently clapping his hands together. “If you need anything, Tony should be in his workspace by now.”

“Where's that?”

“Just press the button labels 'Tony's special place' in the elevator.” Rhodey said, a small smirk on his face which made Stevie think _he_ was the one to come up with the name.

“Got it. Thank you for helping me move.” Stevie said.

“No problem. It was an honour to meet you.” Rhodey said. 

“You too.” Stevie admitted. “Anyone who can keep Tony in line is an inspiration.” Rhodey laughed at that. 

“Then just wait until you meet Pepper Potts.” He said.

“I'll bring Champagne.” Stevie teased. Rhodey laughed as he stepped into the lift. 

The doors closed and Stevie began to unpack the boxes.   
  
  
"Hey Cap, or should I just call you ' _ Rogers _ ' now?" Tony said, as way of greeting, flashing Stevie a grin. 

"' _ Stevie _ ' is just fine." She said, leaning against a work bench, watching him tinker with a repulser. 

"First name basis now? Can I braid you hair next?" Tony asked, smirking as he played with the wires in the gauntlet. 

"Only if I can do yours." Stevie said, smiling. 

“Sorry, only Pepper's allowed to do that.” Tony quipped.

She watched him for a few minutes as he tuned up the mechanisms. 

"Why did you offer me a room here, Tony?" Stevie asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Tony stopped and looked at her. He quietly set the tools down on the workbench. 

"I read the files Natasha released from SHIELD." Tony said. 

"And?"

"And there were a lot of Hydra files as well." Tony admitted, rubbing his hands over his face. "I know what happened to your friend, Barnes. It happened right under SHIELD's nose-" 

"What happened to Bucky wasn't your or SHIELD's fault. It was Hydra's." Stevie said firmly. "You shouldn't feel guilty or responsible." 

"My dad helped  _ make _ SHIELD, and Hydra used it as a breeding ground. How else am I meant to feel?" Tony asked. Stevie thought over her answer. 

"You're just like him?" She said quietly. 

"Who?" 

"Howard. He was convinced that nothing was out of his control." Stevie said, almost wistfully. "He thought every problem had an answer and that he could always find it. But sometimes, there's things you just can't control." 

"Peggy was right about you." Tony said quietly. "The sun really does shine out your ass." He muttered, smirking. Stevie laughed at that. 

"Did she really say that to you?" She asked. 

"Not so much in words, but the way she'd always go on about you." Tony admitted, fiddling with a few more wires. "She was always going on about you." 

"Really?" Stevie looked at the ground, smiling slightly. Tony looked at her and immediately smirked.

"All this time and Captain America still has a crush on Peggy Carter." Tony teased, briefly abandoning the repulser. 

"She's a very impressive woman and a great agent." Stevie said, not meeting Tony's eye. He laughed for a moment and Stevie refused to blush in any way. 

"So did she know?" Tony asked, still smirking. 

"Know what?"

"Know that you were a woman?" Tony said, watching her slyly from the corner of his eye. 

"Of course." Stevie replied. 

"Who else knew?" Tony asked curiously. "Since it was illegal for you to join the army at the time." 

"Peggy, Howard, Doctor Erskine, I think Colonel Philips did." Stevie said, mentally ticking them off. "Howard actually offered to help me get away with it after the serum." 

"I read your file and it said that when you were recovered, you had damage to your chest and ribs." Tony said, finally asking the questions he had wanted to. 

"Yeah well, I stole some bandages and pretended that I had an injury so I could bind my chest. The doctors who helped revive me gave me a very long lecture about it. A couple agents even bought me a couple actual binders to prove their point, even though I don't use them that much any more." Stevie admitted, completely unembarrassed. Tony just looked at her for a moment before shaking his head slightly. 

" _ I can't believe I used to look up to you. _ " He muttered, going back to the repulser. 

 

For the second time in two years, Stevie fell into a routine. 

Admittedly, it was slightly easier to fall into the new routine. The ache in her chest was nowhere near as bad as it was, and each day was more manageable that the last. 

Bruce had moved into the floor above hers' a few weeks after she did and Tony had given him a lab next to his (Tony had given Steve a personal gym as well). 

The first time they had met as neighbours was when Stevie had gone down to the communal kitchen in jogging bottoms and a baggy t-shirt (luckily with a bra on) and had caught sight of Tony and Bruce in the kitchen, looking over blueprint plans for something on touch screen. Tony saw her first. 

"Morning Captain!" He said, giving her a cheesy salute. 

"There's coffee in the pot." Bruce said helpfully, nodding over to the elaborate and drastically over the top coffee machine. 

"Thanks." She said, walking over and pouring herself a mug of coffee, adding some milk from the (equally elaborate and over the top) fridge. "What are you working on?" Stevie asked, gesturing to the screens as she made a small breakfast for herself. 

"Just cleaning up some plans for a new suit." Tony said. 

"I thought you had the arc reactor removed." Stevie said, spreading butter onto her slice of toast. 

"This suit isn't for me." Tony admitted. Stevie nodded, taking a bite of her toast. 

"Going somewhere?" Bruce asked, nodding towards her outfit. 

"A jog. All my old routes are in DC so I have to make some new ones." Stevie said. 

"I thought Natasha and Clint were getting here today." Bruce said, looking at Tony. 

"They are?" Stevie repeated, looking at Tony as well. 

"Yeah. I thought you knew." Tony said. Before Stevie could reply to that, Jarvis' voice spoke to them all. 

"Excuse me for interrupting but Miss Rogers, you have a call." Jarvis said. 

"Who is it, Jarvis?" Tony asked, ignoring the look of annoyance Stevie sent him. 

"A Mr Sam Wilson, sir." Jarvis replied. 

"Is there anyway I can take the call in private?" Stevie asked, looking at the other two men. 

"Just pick up one of the phones if you don't mind insulting Tony's technology." Bruce said, nodding at the phone on the wall. Stevie walked over to the nearest wall phone and picked it up, turning her back to the others. 

"Sam," Stevie said. 

"Hey Cap, any new leads?" Sam said brightly. 

"No. He's dropped off the map again. I haven't found anything." Stevie admitted. "And I've spent the last few days moving to New York." 

"Really?" Sam asked. 

"Tony offered me a room at Stark Tower." Stevie admitted. 

"Weird. He offered me one too." Sam said. Stevie looked over her shoulder at Tony who was turned away from her suspiciously. 

"You're listening in to this, aren't you, Stark." Stevie said, holding the mouthpiece away from her as she spoke. 

"I might come up in a couple days to check it out, we can talk properly then, okay?" Sam said. “As soon as I find someone who can take over the meetings.”

“Sure. I have a few things to do to settle in that I keep putting off.” Stevie said.

“Alright. I'll call ahead when I find someone to cover for me.” Sam replied, a smirk in his voice.

“Call the personal number next time, so Tony can't listen in.” Stevie said, sending a pointed look over her shoulder at Tony. Bruce smiled, but hid it behind his coffee mug. 

“I tried, but it directed me to this number.” Sam admitted. 

“I'll get that fixed, don't worry.” Stevie said, still looking at Tony. Bruce quickly stifled a laugh at Tony's indignant expression. 

“Okay then. Don't have fun in New York until I get there.” Sam joked.

“Too late. I'm calling from the top of a roller-coaster.” Stevie replied, in complete seriousness. She ended the call and hung the phone back on the wall.

“He seems nice.” Tony said. 

“I'm dealing with the phone thing when I get back.” Stevie said, pointing an accusing finger at Tony. She downed the rest of her coffee and left to go for her jog. 

 


	5. Together In One Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at this point, I do want to make something clear: even though there is no canon for this time period in the MCU, this is an AU.  
> I'm going to pretend that the last few minutes of Winter Solider didn't happen. so, yeah.....
> 
> Happy readings!

It was jogging around Central Park that Stevie realised someone was following her.

She slowed down and stopped beside a small clump of trees, feigning catching her breath.

Stevie surveyed the area around her critically. A small movement caught her eye and she zeroed in, cautiously making her way towards it.

She quickly checked the surrounding area. Nothing.

Without waiting to see if something else would happen, Stevie carried on jogging and didn't stop looking forwards until she reached the tower again.

 

After checking in with JARVIS, Stevie made her way up to the living room/communal kitchen on the top levels of the tower.

The lift stopped and Stevie stepped out, being met by not only Tony and Bruce, but also by Natasha and Clint.

"Hey. I didn't know what time you were getting here or I wouldn't have gone out so early." Stevie said, getting herself a bottle of water from the fridge.

"It's no problem, we only just got in, anyway." Natasha said. She was already curled up on the sofa next to Clint, who was spread out on the edge of the sofa. Natasha's hair was still red, but it was now back to being curled and now went past her shoulders. Clint looked pretty much the same, except he now had on an unfamiliar jacket and there were a few plasters stuck along his hands and one or two along his chin and collar.

Stevie nodded.

"I thought you were setting up new identities." Stevie said, taking a drink.

"We were. Then we ran into some information we'd thought you'd like to know." She said, leaning forwards and tapping a small tablet on the coffee table. A screen popped up and various reels of security footage started playing. 

Stevie froze.

"How old is this?" She demanded, voice hard and business-like.

"These two are from just after SHIELD was dismantled." Natasha said, gesturing to two of the images. "This is from about a week ago," She pointed to another image. "And this one was only an hour ago."

"Where were these taken?" Stevie asked, leaning on the sofa, looking at the images.

"First two were from the Smithsonian, the third was a bus station in Prague and the last one was just outside Central Park." Clint said. 

"I was just at Central Park." Stevie muttered, studying the images.

They looked scruffy and unwashed and the baggy outfit they'd probably stolen did a lot to hide their face and stature, but Stevie knew without a shadow of a doubt, that she was looking at the one and only Bucky Barnes.

"We're going through as many accessible street camera and security footage as we can, but without SHIELD, we don't have as much access as we'd like." Clint said. Tony looked affronted by the statement.

"But why is he letting himself be caught _now_?" Bruce muttered, watching the footage loop.

"What?" Stevie asked, catching Bruce off-guard.

"Well, for decades, security footage couldn't get a clear image of him and now there's at least two very clear shots of the Winter Soldier. From his file, he should be better than that." Bruce said. Stevie forgot that Bruce knew a thing or two about disappearing without a trace - or with as little a trace as possible. 

"Maybe he wants to be caught." Tony suggested.

"Maybe he wants answers." Natasha said calmly.

"Either way, I've increased the security and Jarvis is monitoring the security cameras." Tony said.

"Why the added precautions?" Stevie asked.

"We don't know how stable the Winter Soldier is." Bruce said hesitantly. "We don't know if he's a threat or not."

"Bucky's not a threat." Stevie said instantly.

"We don't know that for sure." Natasha said. 

"I know Bucky, he's the furthest thing from a threat to us." Stevie said, sounding much more sure than she felt. 

"Steve, the Winter Soldier isn't Bucky any more." Clint said. Stevie looked at him harshly for a moment before turning away.

"I have to be somewhere in a while. I need to take a shower." She said, leaving the room and heading up in the lift to her floor.

 

“Where are you going, Stevie?” Natasha asked, stepping out of the lift on Stevie's floor a small while later. Stevie's hair was pulled back into a plait and she had changed into jeans and a plain shirt after her shower.

“How can you get on here?” Stevie asked.

“Stark gave me a key card.” Natasha said, gently leaning against the wall. Stevie rolled her eyes and muttered something which could have been “Of _course_ he did.”

“So do you have any reason to be up here?” Stevie asked. Natasha shrugged and walked over to the sofa Stevie had acquired. She sat down, stretching out casually.

“I just want to talk.” Natasha said, raising one of Stevie's eyebrows.

“Were you sent up here to make sure I wasn't planning to go after Bucky?” Stevie asked.

“Are you?” Natasha asked. Stevie shook her head.

“If he wants to be found, he'd let himself be found.” Stevie said, echoing Bruce.

“Those sound like Banner's words.” Natasha said.

“It's Bucky. Now I know he's alive, I can't risk losing him again.” Stevie said. Natasha thought this over.

“He really meant a lot to you, didn't he? More than you'll tell me.” Natasha said, the corner of her lip twitching upwards. Stevie looked away, busying herself with arranging some papers on her coffee table. “Listen, me and Clint are going for a drink with Maria. Why don't you come with us?”

“Is this out of pity?” Stevie asked.

“You moved in here first, and you've put up with Stark and Banner's conversations the longest. You've earned it.” Natasha said.

“It wouldn't be worth it,” Stevie continued. “I can't get drunk.”

“Then you can be the designated driver.” Natasha said at once. “Help me carry Clint back here.”

“I'm not going to get out of this, am I?” Stevie asked, knowing when Natasha is determined to get her own way. Natasha shook her head very slightly and Stevie deflated.

“It's the place a few streets down. ' _Mike's_ ' something.” Natasha said.

“I know the one.” Stevie said. Natasha raised an eyebrow, still smirking slightly. “I go past it when I go jogging.”

“Then meet us there at nine.” Nat said.

“Okay.” Stevie checked the time and disappeared into her room, collecting a bag and swinging it onto her back. “I have to go.” She said, walking past the assassin to the lift.

“Which class is it today?” Natasha said, still sat on the sofa. Stevie froze.

“Modern history lecture.” She said. “How-”

“Don't leave college course pamphlets around if you want to keep it quiet.” Natasha quipped, lifting said pamphlet up.

“Fair enough.” Stevie said, pressing the

“And I wouldn't forget your fake glasses if I were you.” Natasha added, holding out a pair of black glasses. Stevie walked over and plucked them out of her hands.

“Thank _you._ ” She said, holding them in her closed hand.

“See? Didn't I tell you the fake glasses worked?” Natasha said smugly.

“I think it's a mix of the glasses and the fake name.” Stevie said, walking back over to the lift and stepping into it. “I'll see you at the bar.”

She saw Natasha raise a hand to her ear as she leaned over and pressed the button for the ground floor..

“Operation Fossil Revival is go.” Natasha stage whispered.

“Very funny!” Stevie shouted as the doors closed on her.

She waited until she was a few streets away from Avengers Tower and slid the glasses on, turning and walking towards her class.

 


End file.
